Community Conserved Areas and National Legislation: Support or Hindrance?

Indigenous, mobile, and local communities have for millennia played a critical role in conserving a variety of natural environments and species. They have done this for a variety of purposes, economic as well as cultural, spiritual and aesthetic. There are today many thousand Community Conserved Areas (CCAs) across the world, including sacred forests, wetlands, and landscapes, village lakes, catchment forests, river and coastal stretches and marine areas. The history of conservation and sustainable use in many of these areas is much older than government-managed protected areas, yet they are often neglected or not recognised in official conservation systems. Many of them face enormous threats.
 
The World Parks Congress (2003) and subsequently the 7th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2004) endorsed the need to recognise and support such Community Conserved Areas (CCAs).  Study and action about CCAs are emerging as a powerful subject and the global conservation community is becoming interested in supporting indigenous peoples and local communities about their own CCAs.  But are the policies and legislation of specific countries favoring or hindering CCAs and/or, in general,  people’s participation in the governance of protected areas? This information is a key to analyze how far countries go in meeting their commitments towards the CBD.
 
TILCEPA members have made an effort to survey and compile a global picture of the current state of national legislation, policy and implementation regarding CCAs. A number of  their country-based reports are available below.  If you would like to develop a similar report for your country, please contact us at just.tasneem@gmail.com

CCA Legislation worldwide

CCA- related legislation in Guyana

CCA- related legislation in Taiwan

CCA- related legislation in Morocco

CCA- related legislation in Canada

CCA- related legislation in Vanuatu

CCA- related legislation in Nepal

CCA-related legislation in Australia

CCA- related legislation in Costa Rica

CCA- related legislation in Brazil

CCA- related legislation in China

CCA- related legislation in Nigeria

CCA- related legislation in Mauritania

CCA- related legislation in South Africa

CCA- related legislation in Indonesia

CCA- related legislation in Tanzania

Participatory Forest Management in mainland Tanzania

Revising Protected Areas Legislation: Some food for thought for Mongolia and beyond… an electronic discussion compiled by Tilman Jaeger, July 2006

Contact information

Tasneem Balasinorwala, TILCEPA
tilcepa@vsnl.net

Indigenous and Local Communites and Protected Areas Guidelines - Guidance on policy and practice for Co-managed Protected Areas and Community Conserved Areas

Download

SHARING POWER
Learning by doing in Co-Management of Natural Resources throughout the World

Download and ordering information

Briefing notes on Governance of Natural Resources—The Key to a Just World that Values and Conserves Nature?

BIODIVERSITY ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION
IN THE PLANNING,
ESTABLISHMENT AND
MANAGEMENT OF PROTECTED
AREA SITES AND NETWORKS

published by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

To find out more click here.

Tchim Tchieto: Fierté de la Cogestion (CEESP Occasional Paper, No. 2)

Local communities, equity and conservation in southern Africa: A synthesis of lessons learnt and recommendations from a southern African technical workshop

"Conservation Partnerships in Africa", PARKS, Volume 13 No. 1 (joint issue with CEESP/TILCEPA)

CONGRESO MUNDIAL DE PARQUES - América del Sur hacia el V Congreso Mundial de Parques

Join the discussion on CCAs at Envirodebate, the discussion forum of the Centre for Environment Education

World Parks Congress (WPC) website

IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)